SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carrying a loaded gun in a backpack strapped to the body is no different from carrying it in the clothes a person is wearing, and a state law makes both illegal in public, the California Supreme Court said Monday.

The court’s unanimous ruling came in a case that asked it to clarify the state law, which makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm on one’s person in public. California generally does not allow people to carry a concealed firearm in public without a license issued by a sheriff or police chief, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The court said there was no distinction between a backpack, a fanny pack or other container on the body and clothing that is being worn.

“The distinction is untenable,” Justice Ming Chin wrote. “It would require, for example that we treat differently a gun in a zippered pocket of a pair of cargo pants — which would violate the statute — from a gun in a fanny pack tied around the waist — which would not violate the statute — even though, from the perspective of easy access, the gun at the waist might be closer at hand than the gun in the knee pocket of the cargo pants.”

The ruling came in a criminal case against Steven Wade, a Los Angeles County man accused of carrying an unregistered, loaded revolver in his backpack while police chased him.

A call to an attorney for Wade was not immediately returned.

A trial court judge dismissed the charge against Wade, citing an appellate court ruling that found a knife contained in a backup was not carried “on the person.”

The Supreme Court said the facts of the knife case were different. The defendant was leaning on the backup, not carrying it.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carrying a loaded gun in a backpack strapped to the body is no different from carrying it in the clothes a person is wearing, and a state law makes both illegal in public, the California Supreme Court said Monday.

The court’s unanimous ruling came in a case that asked it to clarify the state law, which makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm on one’s person in public. California generally does not allow people to carry a concealed firearm in public without a license issued by a sheriff or police chief, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The court said there was no distinction between a backpack, a fanny pack or other container on the body and clothing that is being worn.

“The distinction is untenable,” Justice Ming Chin wrote. “It would require, for example that we treat differently a gun in a zippered pocket of a pair of cargo pants — which would violate the statute — from a gun in a fanny pack tied around the waist — which would not violate the statute — even though, from the perspective of easy access, the gun at the waist might be closer at hand than the gun in the knee pocket of the cargo pants.”

The ruling came in a criminal case against Steven Wade, a Los Angeles County man accused of carrying an unregistered, loaded revolver in his backpack while police chased him.

A call to an attorney for Wade was not immediately returned.

A trial court judge dismissed the charge against Wade, citing an appellate court ruling that found a knife contained in a backup was not carried “on the person.”

The Supreme Court said the facts of the knife case were different. The defendant was leaning on the backup, not carrying it.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carrying a loaded gun in a backpack strapped to the body is no different from carrying it in the clothes a person is wearing, and a state law makes both illegal in public, the California Supreme Court said Monday.

The court’s unanimous ruling came in a case that asked it to clarify the state law, which makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm on one’s person in public. California generally does not allow people to carry a concealed firearm in public without a license issued by a sheriff or police chief, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The court said there was no distinction between a backpack, a fanny pack or other container on the body and clothing that is being worn.

“The distinction is untenable,” Justice Ming Chin wrote. “It would require, for example that we treat differently a gun in a zippered pocket of a pair of cargo pants — which would violate the statute — from a gun in a fanny pack tied around the waist — which would not violate the statute — even though, from the perspective of easy access, the gun at the waist might be closer at hand than the gun in the knee pocket of the cargo pants.”

The ruling came in a criminal case against Steven Wade, a Los Angeles County man accused of carrying an unregistered, loaded revolver in his backpack while police chased him.

A call to an attorney for Wade was not immediately returned.

A trial court judge dismissed the charge against Wade, citing an appellate court ruling that found a knife contained in a backup was not carried “on the person.”

The Supreme Court said the facts of the knife case were different. The defendant was leaning on the backup, not carrying it.